Quote:
Originally posted by kinook
I do this by creating a Favorites item in the Data Explorer tree as the first child of My Data, adding that item as a favorite (shortcut Alt+Shift+F), then multi-linking all my commonly used items underneath.
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Sure, you could do that, but it's a workaround and not as convenient as having a separate Favorites pane. But after thinking about this some more, I have an even better idea...
Rather than having just a single Favorites pane, how about making it possible for the user to create additional "Data Explorer" panes and to customize the contents of each pane by dragging branches from the main Data Explorer into the custom Data Explorer panes. Each of these panes would be a custom "View" of the database.
For example, I could create a Data Explorer pane just for Tasks and I would drag a copy of my Tasks folder into that pane. Then I might create a pane just for Imported Items and drag a copy of my Imported Items object into that pane.
The idea would be to create dedicated panes for the branches that you use most frequently. That way, instead of having to deal with the clutter of the entire Data Explorer hierarchy, you would have instant access to those items that you are using frequently. I find that I'm constantly opening and closing branches in my Data Explorer pane as I move around the tree to perform different tasks. This opening and closing of branches wastes a lot of time, but it gets too cluttered if you leave too many branches open.
This approach would also allow you to multitask more efficiently. If you have many objects in the tree, it becomes impossible, with just a single Data Explorer window, to view multiple sections of the tree simultaneously. Even if you leave the branches expanded, you will still have to scroll up and down to view the different sections. It would be much more efficient in terms of workflow to be able to view different sections simultaneously, each in its own pane.
Yes, I know you can SORT of do this using the logical linking method you described, but it would be SO much cleaner to have a dedicated Tasks pane, a dedicated Contacts pane, etc, etc, etc... With the logical linking workaround, if you go into the tree to retrieve some other type of data, then all your logical links at the top of the tree would scroll off the screen. Now you're back to the same problem where you have to scroll back and forth constantly. I would like to be able to move around in the main Data Explorer while at the same time leaving alternate views open in separate panes, like how I described above. That way, you would ALWAYS have your contact list displayed in the Contacts pane. Your tasks list would ALWAYS be present in the tasks pane, etc...